Sending mailings

This topic describes how to send campaign mailings directly from Campaign Activity in Microsoft Dynamics CRM, when using this with Optimizely Campaign. After the mailing is sent, response data (opens, clicks, direct replies, unsubscribes and outbounces) is automatically imported into CRM from Optimizely Campaign.

Prerequisites

• Configuration of the integration completed. See Configuration.
• The ID of the campaign mailing to be sent. Make a note of the mailing ID as this is required to send the mailing from CRM.

Preparing a Smart Campaign in Optimizely Campaign

The Smart Campaign set up requires at least these nodes Campaign: Item that determines when a recipient passes through the campaign, and the actions that are executed for the recipient. With the help of "connections", you can link nodes to specify the process of your campaign. The arrow at the end of each connection always points to the next node and the associated action.:

• Recipients node, to which you assign the Master recipient list of the closed-loop interface. This is set up by the Optimizely customer support, when your client is configured.
• Wait node, to enable the Wait until import has been finished option.
• Message node, containing the mailing to be sent.

To configure a Smart Campaign, do the following:

1. Open the Optimizely Campaign menu and select Campaigns > Smart Campaigns.
2. In the Campaigns window, click Create….

   

3. Drag the Recipients node from the left action area to the working area on the right.
4. Select the master recipient list in the Recipient lists drop-down list of the context menu.

   Only use the master recipient list and no other recipient list.

   

5. Drag the Wait node from the left action area to the working area on the right.
6. In the context menu, enable the option Wait until import has been finished.

   

7. Drag a message node (Email, SMS, Print) from the left action area to the working area on the right.
8. Click Edit Content…, select a template and insert your message content into the mailing. Design your Smart Campaigns mailing as usual, using available tools and features. See Edit mailing content.
9. Click Close.
10. Connect the campaign nodes.
11. Click Save and Close, enter a campaign name and click Save.

Configuring marketing lists and CRM campaigns

Before sending a campaign mailing via Optimizely Campaign, you must do the following in Microsoft Dynamics CRM:

• Create a marketing list with leads and contacts who will receive the mailing.

  Contacts and leads for which you do not have advertising consent will not receive the mailing, even if they are in the marketing list.

• Create a CRM campaign and add the marketing list.

Creating a marketing list

1. Open Microsoft Dynamics CRM and select Marketing > Marketing Lists.

   

2. Click New. The integration supports both static and dynamic list types. The name for the marketing list and its options (such as Currency) are not relevant for sending mailings via Optimizely Campaign.
3. When done, click Save.
4. Click the plus icon + for Members to add desired contacts or leads to the marketing list.

   

5. When done, click Save.

Creating a CRM campaign and adding the marketing list

1. Open Microsoft Dynamics CRM and select Marketing > Campaigns.

   

2. Click New.
3. In the Name box, enter a name for your campaign.

   

4. In the Currency box, specify a currency for the campaign.

   

5. Click Save.
6. In the Marketing Lists area, click the plus icon +, select the desired marketing list and click Add.

   

7. Click Save. Keep the window open for the next step.

Preparing campaign activity for dispatch

1. Click the plus icon + in the Campaign Activities area.

   

2. In the Subject box, enter a subject for your campaign activity.

   

3. Under Channel, select Episerver Campaign.

   

4. Under Advertising Consent in the new options area, click Search and select the corresponding advertising consent.

   

5. Click Save.

   

6. Click Select Campaign.

   

7. Select the mailing to be send and click Select Mailing.

   

8. Close the Select Mailing window and reload the Campaign Activity screen. The mailing ID is now assigned to the campaign activity.

Checking mailing content before dispatch

Check the mailing content before dispatch by sending the mailing to a Optimizely Campaign test list. Do the following:

Prerequisite: You must assign a Optimizely Campaign test list in Microsoft Dynamics CRM. See Assigning Optimizely Campaign test lists.

1. On the Campaign Activity screen, select a Optimizely Campaign test list.

   

2. Click Test Message.

   

3. Select the mailing you want to send to the test list.

   The list shows all mailings that are related to campaigns in the status Activation required in Optimizely Campaign. You must know the names of the corresponding mailings. The mailing name does not necessarily correspond to the campaign name. In the case of A/B tests, mailings typically have different names than the campaigns.

   

4. Click Select test mailing to send the mailing.

   

Starting and monitoring dispatch workflows

Starting the workflow

1. Click Run Workflow in the campaign activity screen in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

   

2. Select Episerver: Send campaign activity to Episerver Campaign and click Add. Do not start the workflow Episerver: Start mailing in Episerver Campaign. This is automatically called by the integration.

   

   Contacts and leads from the marketing list are transferred to Optimizely Campaign via the interface through Recipient packages, and the Mailing status changes from Planned to Transmitting.

Monitoring workflow activity

1. Open Microsoft Dynamics CRM and select Settings > System Jobs.

   

2. Under View, open My System Jobs from the drop-down list. You can see the current workflow status under Status Reason.

   

   If an error is displayed under Status Reason, click the corresponding workflow to see details.